


A Thief Will Have to Do

by Giverny



Category: Naruto
Genre: AND DRAMA, Arranged Marriage, F/F, F/M, Gen, Jealous Uchiha Sasuke, M/M, Medium Burn, Mutual Pining, all the angst tbh, i live for sasunaru, i'll do my best to write steamy scenes i guess, is that a tag, just gonna put that out there, lots of pining, the royal AU i always wanted to read so i wrote it instead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-06-23 07:03:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15600918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Giverny/pseuds/Giverny
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki never quite fit the mold for a royal and contrary to the popular belief, his family wouldn't have it any other way. However, an ancestral curse cast by a vengeful Madara threatens to unravel the happiness that Naruto has known all his life.Never one for giving up, Naruto must embark on a quest to find a way to break the curse. Naturally, he expected a noble journey filled with sword fights, solving riddles, and maybe finally winning over the heart of his very attractive knight so naturally he got a devilishly handsome thief and a great carriage robbery instead.And it would all be a little less complicated had he not been the treasure being stolen.





	1. The Thief

"Naruto, wake up!" a voice bellowed from outside the door, followed by incessant knocking. "Brat, I know you're in there! Don't make me go in there and drag you headboard to floorboard because you damn know I will!" the voice roared through the thick wooden doors. 

"Last chance dear." another voice chimed in. 

"Rest in peace, Naru." a third voice followed before the doors finally came crashing down. 

A busty blonde woman strolled in, her dark heeled boots noisily clacking against shiny hardwood floors, followed by a handsome, tall blond man and a charming red-haired woman by his side. The couple followed the woman hastily, a little entertained by the situation but more mortified for their son's wellbeing, physical and emotional. 

"Last chance, brat!" the blonde woman raised a brow. She flipped her pigtails over her shoulders and rolled up her sleeves. 

"Tsunade, maybe you should go a little easy on him." the blond man gestured, waving his arms around. The redhead next to him nodded sheepishly. "After all, it's our son's special day." he expressed and held out a pendant with the signature Uzumaki spiral on it. Tsunade smiled at it fondly, they had all planned on giving it to Naruto for his coronation. 

She sighed and shook her head. "Minato, Kushina, maybe you're right." the two quickly let out a sigh of relief. "After all, there are 364 other days where I can torture your son." she chuckled. The two shot each other a concerned look.

The blonde woman moved to shake the boy awake, his lithe form covered by a mass of sheets and pillow and blankets. _It was a miracle that this boy could breathe underneath all of this_ , she thought to herself. 

"Come on, brat." she shook him awake. She froze when his "shoulder" seemingly disintegrated and jumped backwards, pulling off the sheets and finding pillows and newspapers underneath the mass of bedsheets. Minato and Kushina let out a surprised gasp and rushed to the bed. 

"Oh gods, where has he run off to?" Minato exclaimed as he ran a hand through his spiky, blond hair. Kushina grabbed at his shoulders, trying to calm down her fretful husband. 

"Don't worry Minato, he's probably fine." his wife said in a calm tone. She then turned to Tsunade who had a wild expression on her face. Kushina peered down at her hands which had formed into tight fists, a green mist surrounding them.

"Not unless I have something to say about it!" Tsunade exclaimed, a determined look on her face. 

"Tsunade! Put that away, you won't be turning our son into a toad on his coronation!" Kushina accused. The blonde woman sighed and settled for resting her hands on her hips instead. Minato let out a sigh of relief and settled a hand onto his mother's shoulder. 

"Because he won't be alive for you to cast one spell on him if I have anything to say about it!" the red-haired woman yelled as she stormed out of the room, her hair flying about wildly. Tsunade and Minato looked at each other with a frightened expression before trailing Naruto's mother worriedly. 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Naruto had been riding his horse out of the palace grounds, a bright smile lighting up his cerulean eyes and the wind billowing across his blond locks, the golden strands brushing across his forehead. 

The blond leaned down as the horse gained speed and pulled on the reigns as a sharp turn took them into town. The dirt underneath them swirled into a storm of of wind, sand and rocks. He spotted a post where he could tie up the horse and grinned. _Perfect_ , he thought to himself. 

"Ah!" Naruto exclaimed as he threw his hood off and hopped off of his horse. The blond dusted off the white cloak strewn about his shoulders, raising a white gloved hand through this hair. Peering around at his surroundings, he tucked a hand into his pockets as he took everything in. The liveliness of the townspeople, the enchanting smell of fresh, baked bread and pastries, and finally the never-ending line of street vendors selling anything and everything. 

Naruto fished around for something in his orange vest and pulled out a silver pocket-watch, glancing at the time for a split second and tucking it back in. Then, the blond reached over to his right hip and plucked a sugar cube, raising it up to his horse to munch on. 

"Good work today, Miso!" Naruto grinned up at the horse, petting it with his other hand. The horse made a pleased noise and kicked at the dirt with its front hoof. "I'll be back in a couple hours, I just need to grab something really quick." the blond soothed the horse. "Granted Tsunade doesn't track me down first. And possibly kill me." Naruto shivered at the thought. He shrugged and turned around. 

The blond strolled through town, greeting various townspeople as he made his way through the crowded streets. He looked around, scoping out the stall he was looking for. Once Naruto spotted what he was looking for, he strode forward. 

However, he paused as a man bumped into him. "Ah, I'm sorry!" Naruto quickly apologized. He turned to look over his shoulder since the man had not responded to his apology, but saw a mass of spiky black hair disappear into the crowd. "Okay. Rude." the blond said putting his hands up in an offended gesture. 

The blond scoffed and continued on. The person at the stall had their back turned, their many colorful wares and spells, potions and magic objects hanging from shelves and dangling along the sides of the stall. A couple were littered across the ground so the blond picked them up and set them down on the counter. The vendor heard the boy and turned around. 

"You!" the vendor yelled as he pointed an accusatory finger at the blond. Naruto raised up a brow in questioning. "How dare you try to steal from me, boy!" he sneered. "How dare you trick me by knocking over my potions and stealing one when I wasn't looking! And how dare I fall for it again! And for the 23rd time too!" the man despaired. Naruto gaped and struggled to find words as the vendor pulled out a knife and held it up to his throat. 

"You must be mistaken, there were a couple of p-p-potions on the floor and I put them back on the counter!" the nervous blond stuttered, his voice breaking against the knife. "I have money in exchange for your wares, I have no reason to steal." the blond reasoned. 

"Well, one is missing! And you look guilty with your bright blue eyes and boyish charm!" the vendor reasoned. He pressed the knife in deeper. "Oh, what a beautiful potion I can brew with your blood!" he grinned maniacally. 

"I can indeed vouch for the boy, Deidara." a voice sounded from behind the blond. Naruto blushed to the tips of his ears, recognizing the voice as one of his knights. The vendor stepped backwards and peered at the blond. 

"I'm not a boy anymore Neji." the blond huffed. "I'm eighteen now, I can protect myself!" Naruto exclaimed. Ignoring the blond's comments, Neji grabbed the boy by his chin, raising his face in order to inspect it. 

"Well, you were certainly handling the situation perfectly if you were intending on dying. By knife. By a street vendor." Neji bit out sarcastically. "I'm glad you're okay." the black-haired man said affectionately. 

"I'm glad you were here." Naruto blushed. "Otherwise I _would_ be dead, _by knife_ , _killed by a street vendor_." Naruto said, his face turning pale. 

Deidara watched the scene unfold and warily grabbed the potions on the counter. 

"I'm sure the royal family would have no reason to steal indeed. Hard to believe this boy is royalty actually. Well, if you didn't steal my wares, I'd like to know who did." he calmly explained, shooting Neji an accusatory look. Naruto hid his face, pretending not to be offended by his comment. "Magic doesn't come cheap, you know." 

"I can assure you that it wasn't Prince Naruto who stole your potion. In fact, I've been trailing this thief for years and I still have yet to capture him." Neji gripped the sword at his side tightly in frustration. Naruto glanced at the knight with a sad expression on his face. He had known Neji for quite some time now, knowing that he had always diligently completed a mission and it pained him knowing that the man he was trying to apprehend got away again. 

"I apologize, Sir Hyuuga. And to you, kind of. Prince Naruto." the vendor explained. "Take any one of my wares for free. I insist." he said. Naruto shook his head and pulled out his frog purse. He tried to hide it underneath his cloak, but Neji and the vendor had both seen the blond's embarrassing trinket and sighed. 

"I have money, like you said, magic doesn't come cheap and I'm sure you would want payment for the trouble of conjuring a tracking spell." the blond said. Deidara opened his mouth to speak, but looked to the side. 

"What's wrong?" Neji asked in a demanding tone. "Answer me." the knight gritted his teeth. 

"I'm afraid what was stolen _was_ the tracking spell." Deidara sighed. "I'm sorry, your highness. It will take a while to conjure up a new one, but it can be done." he hung his head down, his high ponytail swinging downwards. 

Peering at the sad expression on his prince's face, Neji leaned forward over the counter. "Do you remember what the thief looked like?" the knight asked. Naruto's head shot up as a flash of spiky black hair flashed through his mind. 

"He had dark hair, it kind of looked like a duck's ass? Dark eyes, too. Real handsome guy, like distracting handsome. Like, you would see him on the street and look, you know? But like if you saw that he was married, you would feel super guilty for looking at him. But, you know what they say! You can look at the menu, just can't order." the vendor shrugged after a long-winded description that was less than helpful. 

Naruto and Neji both looked at him with a confused expression. "I'm sure Sasori would love to hear this description of him." Neji scoffed. 

Deidara shot out his arms with wide eyes. "He also had a strange tattoo on the nape of his neck, three black dots chasing one another. Tall, about an inch taller than your brat." he said. "That's about all I remember. Please don't tell Sasori I was ogling or anything. Free potions on the house!" the blond begged. 

Naruto chuckled and put a hand on the blond's shoulder. "We're okay. Just take it easy. Thank you for the help." The two turned around and started walking back. Neji had spotted Naruto's horse as he chased down the thief and made a quick detour into the town. So, he had tied up his horse at the same post. 

Neji looked over to the prince and smiled softly. "You know, Prince Naruto, I have gotten the chance to know you over the years and I'm proud of you seeing you all grown up. Had you been even a year younger, you would have definitely cashed in on those free potions." Naruto pretended to be offended at the accusation but nodded instead. "But you always manage to prove me and my judgement wrong. And soon you will become my King, my Prince." Neji said endearingly. 

Naruto felt heat rise in his face before he moved to jump up on his horse. "Thank you Neji." he said looking down at the knight as he situated himself on the horse. He looked forward until he froze. 

"Neji?" the blond questioned. 

"Yes, Prince Naruto?" his knight asked. 

"It's my coronation today, isn't it?" the blond questioned, swallowing the lump in this throat. Neji nodded, trying to suppress a chuckle. Instead, he wiped a gloved hand across his mouth. 

"What time is it?" Naruto asked, tears threatening to leak out of his eyes, not out of sadness but for fear of Tsunade ripping out his lungs through his mouth. 

"Quarter to five. So, 20 minutes until said coronation." Neji answered promptly. Naruto gulped and leaned down to whisper something in Miso's ear. 

"I will give you the most sugar cubes if you get me back home in 20 minutes." 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, a gorgeous onyx-haired thief raised a clear glass vial up to the light, his fingerless gloves wrapped around the precious potion. He swirled the light blue liquid around in the vial admiring his handiwork. _Well, someone else's handiwork._  The cunning thief bit his lip and smirked. 

He promptly put it back into his pouch and scanned the woods for any knights before he set out to find a proper place to set up camp. The thief trudged over mossy hills and reached up to grab onto a branch for leverage. As he pulled himself up, pushing dark black bangs across his forehead, he came face-to-face with a wanted poster. 

The paper was weak and stained a bleak yellow color. It had been loosely attached and was about to fall off until the thief properly stabbed through it with a sharp dagger. He pulled out a quill, placing it in his mouth as he fished around for some ink. Hearing voices in the distance, he quickly scribed something onto the paper before swiftly packing away his things and sneaking off into the brush. 

As a group of knights tracked approached the tree with the poster, one of them signaled that they stop and search the area. The thief was currently peeking out the brush, his eyes dyed a deep red as he analyzed the scene. 

Three soldiers on foot, two on horses standing watch. _Easy enough,_ he thought. He started formulating a plan for taking them down, his hands digging around for smoke bombs in his satchel. He paused as he saw the knights freeze. 

"He was definitely here, but he's long gone by now." The leader of the pack sounded. He could tell he was their leader by the insignia on his chest. 

"What makes you say that, Kakashi?" another knight sounded from behind him. She peered up at Kakashi through light, pink lashes. The girl ran her hand over the tree with the wanted poster on it. She lifted a curious brow before she lifted it off the tree and ripping it apart from the dagger. 

"Because I'm lazy and the Prince's Coronation will begin soon. We are to escort him to Suna afterwards." Kakashi relented, and stretching out his limbs. All of the knights stared at him curiously. "Besides, I want leftovers from the ceremony. The Akimichi kingdom came from afar just to cater." Kakashi said, smirking from behind his masked face. 

Everyone looked at each other and then rapidly started scrambling back onto their horses. The pink-haired girl sighed and turned to her superior. "Look, he's been here and I feel like we should keep trailing him, sir." Kakashi peered down at the paper and merely laughed aloud:  

 

> ^not WANTED 
> 
> Sasuke Uchiha
> 
> Reward: ~~1,000 GOLD~~ Death probably  

"Oh, this is hilarious. We're keeping this. I'm going to show Neji." Kakashi said as he took the paper and tucked it into his pocket. "Good work today, Sakura. Actually, good work everyday. You work so hard and you are a meaningful asset to this team." the silver-haired man rested his hand on her shoulder. "And if you would like to keep searching for the thief, then I can't stop you, now can I?" 

Sakura shot him a look. "Do you just want me to keep searching for him so you look like you're doing your job?" she asked, resting a hand on her hip. 

"Maybe." Kakashi drawled. Sakura suppressed the urge to choke her boss and turned backwards, looking around to find any trail of where Sasuke went. She called her horse toward her and jumped up onto it. As the other knights ventured off back towards the kingdom, Sakura looked out with a determined look on her face. 

Sasuke smirked from behind the brush as the girl journeyed off in the opposite direction. He had to hand it to her, she was quite clever following a trail. Unfortunately, it had been a false trail he created to throw the royal knights off his trail. 

 _Coronation, huh?_ the Uchiha thought to himself.  _Sounds like drunk, not to mention, rich royals partying it up. Maybe he could rob a carriage on the way to Suna as they transported the Prince._

The Uchiha had long appeared out of the brush and walked back up to the tree, taking the dagger out from the trunk and putting it back in his bag. He looked forward in the direction the knights had travelled to. 

 _After all_ , the thief proclaimed to himself as he grabbed onto the tracking spell in his back pocket, "Itachi can wait a little longer, I can't resist the urge to see the look on that pretty, blond prince's face as I stab his royal knight and rob them blind." Sasuke smirked devilishly. 


	2. Coronation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the best day of Prince Naruto's young life, his coronation. Or at least it's supposed to be. Unfortunately, an unforeseen clause of a royal curse cuts the ceremony short catapulting Naruto into an unforgettable journey where he meets an even more unforgettable thief.

Hurriedly, Naruto buttoned up his dark blue waistcoat, ridding himself of his white cloak and tacky orange vest hastily. As soon as the blond arrived back at the palace, Neji escorted him through the vast crowds of townspeople and festivities at the palace grounds so that he could get ready for the ceremony. 

Naruto grunted as he peered at the time on his watch, tucking it underneath his armpit as he pulled off his gloves, throwing them onto the ground and slipping on another pair. 

Neji sighed as he stood outside of the blond's room where he was changing into his formal coronation wear. Tsunade would certainly have his head, both of theirs in fact, if the prince didn't soon make his grand entrance into the grand ballroom where everyone had been waiting for them for the past hour.  _Soon to be hours._ The knight grew alarmed when he heard Naruto fall to the ground with an 'oof.' 

A passing knight walked by Neji and stopped, alarmed by the noise. Neji merely started coughing to cover up the noise and gesturing the knight to keep on moving.  _What is taking that boy so long to get ready anyways?_

He peered behind the door to find Naruto having gotten back up, pulling on a pair of long, laced dark boots. His pocket watch cluttered to the ground, the noise alarming the blond as he fell over once more. Neji then slowly closed the door, sparing himself the sight of the blond rolling around on the ground like a complete idiot. 

Soon, the blond emerged from the room, a shy look on his face. The knight leaned forward. "Well, out with the rest of you. We don't have much time to lose." Neji sighed. 

Naruto then stepped out of the room. 

Never the kingdom to splurge on extravagant jewels and clothes, the clothes the prince were given were simple threads passed down from generation to generation. Nonetheless, the blond looked amazing. The prince was dressed in a high collared, blue waistcoat laid over a puffy, white sleeved dress shirt, crisp white slacks adorned with a tight black belt and sleek black, laced riding boots. 

"You look excellent, my liege." the knight proclaimed, taking a knee and bowing his head. Naruto's whiskered cheeks flushed a deep pink. 

He waved, "You don't h-have to to that, Neji. I'm not even king yet." Naruto stuttered, clearly embarrassed at the sight. 

"But you will be." Neji replied. 

He barely caught his breath as he heard the noise of trumpets bellowing outside and the two promptly rushed down the hall. Naruto looked up at the knight as they sped down the stairs and smiled to himself. 

"Now presenting, Prince Naruto!" a squire proclaimed. Naruto took a breath, resisting the urge to teeter back and forth on his heels at the top of the grand staircase which split off into two smaller staircases. A fountain rested in between the two, large ropes of clear, blue water spilling out over a trio of snakes, toads and slugs. 

The rapids flowed down in between channels carved into the striated, marble floors where many royal had gathered from different kingdoms. All of which had joined together to watch Prince Naruto of Konoha finally take his rightful place as King. 

The Prince made his way down the staircase where Kushina, Minato and Neji awaited him. Neji adorned the blond with a blinding, white cape that dragged across the ground as he stepped. His parents donning him with a scepter and chalice in addition to pinning the pendant to his cape. Everyone in the crowd had cheered and clapped, joyous music playing and rising in tempo as Naruto continued to make his way down the stairs. 

Naruto bowed his head at the all of them, grinning wildly. He saw Tsunade at the bottom in front of the fountain where he was prepared to be crowned by his grandmother, Queen Tsunade. His grandmother still looked young thanks to her regenerative magic and was dressed in a classy white gown, adorned with a stylish red cloak over her shoulders and thick black heels.

Her hair was pulled back in a silky side bun, gems adorned her hair and a wide smirk on her face. 

The prince took a step towards his grandmother, feeling the ground quake a bit but thought nothing of it as he made his way towards Tsunade. However, the closer he got, the more the ground trembled and everyone looked around at each other in alarm. 

Naruto bit his lip and gripped onto the scepter and chalice in his hands as the floor between them split apart violently. Tsunade looked around in alarm, setting the plush, bejeweled crown down and used her magic in an attempt to mend the ground. To no avail, Tsunade yelled, "Everyone, calm down!" she cried. People had started to back away in shock and fear, the ground underneath them shaking violently. 

The clacking of heels against the marbled floors and the sound of rushing water as it broke free of the shallow channels broke Neji out of a deep daze. He ran towards Naruto who had been rocking back and forth, catching him on his feet. "Prince Naruto! Are you okay?" the knight exclaimed. 

Naruto, too shaken up to say anything, shook his head. 

When the shaking finally stopped, Kushina and Minato made their way down to join their son. "Naruto, your hand!" his parents shrieked. Minato glared down at the symbol and turned to his mother. 

"That's impossible, mother." Minato said as he gestured towards Tsunade to rush over. 

Neji peered down at the symbol. "Your highness, what is that?" The knight asked confusedly. 

"The curse should have skipped Naruto. After all, Minato is not of your blood, Tsunade." Kushina exclaimed, raising a concerned hand to her son's cheek. His eyes had a frightened expression. He clenched his teeth as he felt the searing pain of the symbol etch itself into his skin. Tsunade rubbed the symbol burned onto her own hand, gritting her teeth in frustration. 

"Naruto is not of my blood, but he is chosen family." Tsunade said calmly. "I should have known that trying to escape the curse was futile." she said, her voice low. Naruto looked up to his grandmother. 

"What's happening to me?" Naruto finally asked. His mother wrapped her arms around her son's shoulders and let out a deep sigh. 

"Let's adjourn to a more private setting." Tsunade calmly stated. "Neji, if you don't mind, I need you to escort our guests to the courtyard, let them know that the festivities may continue, Naruto just doesn't feel well." the queen gestured to the scared and confused crowds of royal families. Neji nodded, shooting a concerned look towards Naruto. 

* * *

"Long ago, my grandfather Hashirama Senju was arranged to marry my grandmother, Uzumaki Mito." Tsunade started calmly. The family had all relocated to the library where Kushina and Minato were furiously flipping through different spellbooks and history texts to find a way to help their son. 

"What does this have anything to do with me! Tell me how to get this damn thing off!" Naruto yelled exasperated. Tsunade resisted the urge to strike her grandchild and chanted to herself,  _It's the brat's special day, the brat's special day, THE BRAT'S SPECIAL DAY._

"Look, Hashirama didn't love Mito, he loved a wizard's apprentice from another family. His name was Uchiha Madara." Naruto's eyes widened at the mention of the name. He felt that he had recognized it somehow. He shook his head and continued to listen. "On their last night together, before the wedding, Madara asked Hashirama to run away with him. Hashirama agreed." Tsunade frowned and turned away from the boy. 

"However, Hashirama didn't appear where and when Madara had asked them to meet. Instead, Hashirama was getting married to Mito. Madara found out and he was furious. Heartbroken at his betrayal." Naruto gaped. 

"At the expense of Madara's soul, he cast a curse on the lineage of the royal family. It wasn't powerful enough to affect every generation, Hashirama was skeptical of it when it skipped his children." Tsunade said, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"But the curse affected you." Naruto said aloud, "But what was the curse?" he asked. 

"At my first coronation, the same thing that happened at yours happened to me. I was worried about the curse but my betrothed, Dan, urged me to brush it off. And we held a new ceremony the following year." Tsunade responded, clenching her fists tightly. "The effects of the curse on the outcome of the second coronation made the first coronation look like child's play. The palace nearly collapsed and the ceiling was about to collapse on me until Dan pushed me out of the way." the blonde woman choked back a gasp. 

Minato closed his book and went up to comfort his mother. 

"I didn't know you had anyone before Jiraiya," Naruto trailed off. "Granny, I didn't know about any of this. I'm so sorry." Naruto said quickly. He got up from the place where he was sitting and ran up to his grandmother. 

"There's no way you could have known. We kept it from you to protect you." Minato comforted his son. "Tsunade and Jiraiya were friends growing up, they found each other again after Dan's death and they adopted me. I wasn't a part of the royal bloodline so when I met Kushina, we didn't think of the curse affecting our child." Minato explained. 

"So the curse is I'll lose someone I love at my second coronation?" Naruto asked confusedly. "Is there a way to break it? There has to be." the blond prince said in a determined tone. 

"You can't ascend the throne unless you lose the person most precious to you." the queen proclaimed, putting a hand on her son's shoulder and pushing him backwards. "And Madara said that the only person who knows how to break the curse is an Uchiha." 

"Didn't Hashirama execute all of the Uchihas after the enactment of the curse?" Kushina chimed in, her nose in the crook of a dusty book. 

A scoff sounded outside of the room and everyone turned to look in the direction of the noise. 

"Sakura, hello." Tsunade coughed. The pink-haired knight walked up towards her old mentor and gave her a hug, resting her head upon her shoulder. Tsunade hugged her back. "You look well, any reason for the sudden attitude?" the blonde woman smirked. 

"Because I'm on the hunt for an Uchiha right now. Sasuke Uchiha. And in regards to the attitude, you are my mentor." Sakura replied smartly, her hands resting on her hips with a crooked smile. Tsunade rolled her eyes and settled for a playful flick on the forehead of her former student. 

"Do you think he could help us break the curse?" Naruto's eyes lit up. 

"Yeah, if you could catch him." Sakura scoffed. "We've been on his trail for weeks, by the time we all get to him, he's already gotten to his loot." Sakura explained. 

"Are there any other Uchihas out there who can help us?" Kushina asked in an exasperated tone. "Who knows who will get hurt at Naruto's next coronation!" she exclaimed, grabbing onto her husband. 

"Not that we know of." Sakura sighed. 

"Wait, Sakura, you said that by the time you all get to him, he's already gotten to the loot." Naruto turned to look at his friend. Sakura nodded. "Let's set a trap then. He's bound to track one of the carriages leaving the palace. How many royal families are gathered here today at the palace?" Naruto asked, looking around. 

The four of them nodded in agreement. Indeed, there had to have been over 2,000 visitors invited just for Naruto's coronation ceremony. All of them dressed to the nines in extravagant royal robes and clothing, not to mention expensive jewelry. 

"So, how do we go about setting up a trap specifically for Sasuke?" Sakura questioned the boy. 

"Naruto is bound to Suna after his coronation. That's the one Sasuke is going for." Neji said as he entered the room. Everyone turned around to look at the knight. He strode past everyone towards Naruto. 

"How do you know that, Neji?" Kushina asked. 

"Because Kakashi talked about it in front of him," Neji said, pulling out the wanted poster that Sasuke had defiled. Sakura sighed and Neji turned his attention towards her. 

"He wasn't there, I saw his trail heading out of that area and tracked it. He was long gone by then." the pink-haired knight sneered. 

"I know how Sasuke works. He made that trail to set you all off in the wrong direction because he was planning on setting up camp there." Neji replied cooly. Sakura raised an irritated brow and stormed out of the room. Tsunade made a movement towards her but then settled for letting her apprentice go. 

"Anyways, we'll make sure that Sasuke gets to the carriage. We'll bait him with the crown and supply the carriage with one in the front, foregoing a carriage behind him. Instead, I'll be there where he'll be attacking from behind." Neji planned. 

"That's too dangerous, Neji." Minato explained. 

"Well then he'll never come." Neji said exasperatedly. "Sasuke won't fight a battle he can't win." the long-haired knight said, gripping onto the sword at his side. 

"A one-on-one with the prince's royal knight? Sasuke is that confident in his abilities?" Kushina asked. 

"Only one way to find out." the knight replied. 

* * *

 Obviously, Naruto didn't like this plan. So many people risking their lives so that he could ascend the throne. He gulped as he peered outside the carriage. Although it was night, there was light magic around the carriage that lit up the night. 

Everyone had long since left the palace, feeling jittery and equally pitiful for the young prince as they had for Tsunade years past. He really hoped this was going to work because otherwise, he was afraid that he would never become king. 

He folded his hands in his lap and hated how helpless he felt. The prince pushed those thoughts aside and sat up inside the carriage, determined to make this plan work. 

Suddenly, the carriage came to a halt and Naruto looked up in alarm. His body fell forward and he fell promptly on his face. They had barely been traveling for an hour, there was no way Sasuke moved in on them so fast. The blond quickly scrambled up, backing away from the door as he heard it jostle open. He slipped his hand underneath the seat and unsheathed his sword. 

As the door opened, Naruto raised his sword in alarm. 

His breathing was steady. 

His hands shaking, the metal of the sword glittering against the light in the carriage. 

His eyes looked up to meet the figure outside. 

Neji looked downwards with an amused expression. "No need to point that thing at me. And with such bad form too." Neji chuckled. "I just wanted to see if you were okay." Naruto sighed in relief. 

The knight once again closed the carriage doors. Naruto collapsed against the carriage walls, his heart about to jump out of his chest.  _That damn knight! I wish I didn't always have to be protected. I just want the chance to be brave for once!_ The young prince thought to himself. 

Another knock resounded on the outside of the carriage. Naruto opened it, "You know what, Neji! Very funny, but I don't--" The prince paused. 

"Not Neji. Very much so Sasuke Uchiha." the thief said, entering the carriage and settling down next to Naruto. The blond gazed at the raven, his black bangs swept across his forehead with thick back spikes covering the back of his head and neck, his intense gaze highlighted by his handsome features. He wore a light dress shirt and tight-fitting slacks with dark laced boots, all encased in a dark black coat. 

The thief's hand shot out of the cloak, a sharp dagger cutting across Naruto's whiskered cheek. The prince felt the carriage shift and his eyes widened in alarm. Sasuke swung the dagger backwards, missing Naruto's forehead by a few inches. 

The blond quickly raised up his sword and came into contact with Sasuke's dagger. Naruto's reflection shone in the dark dagger, his fear evident on his face. 

The thief grinned and swung around the sword with his dagger until it plunged into the top of the carriage. "Not so useful without your knight to protect you, huh Prince Naruto?" Sasuke kicked Naruto with much force and he collided with the side of the carriage.

Before Sasuke crawled out, Naruto uttered out, "What do you mean by that! What did you do to Neji?" The thief turned back to look at the prince. 

"Oh gods, I see no one thought I'd strike this close to the palace, but I did. All of your men were caught off guard. Even your precious knight. I'm just here to grab your loot and I will be on my way." the Uchiha said as he raised Naruto's coin purse up into the air. He slipped it into his pocket before exiting the carriage. 

"Seriously? Frogs? What a dobe. You haven't changed at all." Sasuke scoffed. Naruto brushed off the comment and lunged for the raven, but recoiled because of the sword in his way. 

Naruto's eyes widened and looked up to the sword plunged into the roof of the carriage. He pulled it out and stabbed at Sasuke. The raven, caught off guard, stumbled as the sword plunged into his shoulder. Grinning, the prince kicked him to the ground, swinging out of the carriage and tumbling over onto the thief. The two landed on the ground, grimacing at the pain. 

Sasuke, regained his footing quickly and took the sword out of his shoulder, pressing it up to the prince's throat. The vulnerable blond glanced up at the thief through dark lashes. He sighed against the blade. 

"Why don't you just kill me already, Uchiha? Put me out of my misery like the rest of my men?" Naruto gritted out. Sasuke gripped his shoulder in pain and buried the sword into his collar. He staggered backwards weakly. 

"You're not worth my time." the thief gritted out. 

Naruto easily slipped out of his coat and got up. "Face me, teme! You've hurt my men and you won't get away with this!" the prince cried out, grabbing the sword that had held him down and pointing it at the thief. 

"You're really naive, aren't you?" Sasuke asked, tilting his head to the side. The Uchiha straightened up and released his shoulder. Naruto gasped, realizing he hadn't hurt the Uchiha at all. "Want to know why I didn't kill you, Naruto?" the thief asked. He approached Naruto warily until he arrived in front of the blond. The prince was frozen as he the thief's lips ghosted against the blond's as he leaned in. 

Jolts of electricity rising up in between them. 

"You're worth more alive and I intend to cash in." Sasuke replied before lunging at the blond, disarming him quickly and stuffing a damp cloth into his face. Naruto struggled to breathe, clawing at the thief before he finally succumbed to darkness and fell slack against the Uchiha. 

* * *

By the time Neji woke up, he found himself surrounded by unconscious soldiers, startled horses and an two motionless carriages. He quickly got up, rushing to the carriage despite his injuries and gasped as he saw Naruto was missing. 

He inspected the inside of the carriage, noticing that there was a gaping hole at the top of the carriage as well as scratches marring the side of the vessel. He let out a frustrated sigh and clenched his fists. 

Neji headed towards one of the horses, intent on riding it back to the palace immediately in order to get help. And to inform the queen that her grandson had been taken and it was all his fault. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got my first anon hate 
> 
> (gratuitous spongebob quote) at least i still have my personality


	3. Captured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto has been captured by Konoha's most notorious thief, Sasuke Uchiha. And if there's anything the blond knows how to do, it's talk himself out of a difficult situation. Most of the time, it works. Sometimes, well, he talks a little too much.

"How could you let this happen! I would rather have a _cursed_ Naruto here than a _captured_ Naruto god knows where!" the queen hollered at the long-haired knight before hurling a green mass of energy towards an unsuspecting curtain which promptly caught on fire and then disappeared. Neji flinched at the queen's actions but a part of him knew them to be true. "Sorry, Neji, I'm just frustrated, I didn't mean to--" Tsunade sighed. 

Their eyes travelled to the guards who flooded towards the curtain with buckets of water that were on standby. "Thank you, Kurenai and Asuma." Tsunade nodded to them, waving them off. 

"Your majesty, you're right. It's my fault. I wrongfully assumed that I could best Sasuke and now Prince Naruto has been captured." the knight hunched over and held his head in his hands. Minato put his hand on Neji's shoulder assuredly.

"I'm so sorry." Neji sounded in a defeated tone. 

Currently, the royal family, Neji and his knights were situated in the throne room where Neji had found them and informed them of the situation. Neji positioned himself upright before he took a deep breath. 

* * *

_Neji had closed the carriage doors, chuckling silently to himself at the prince's startled behavior and shaky form. He was glad that Naruto had been okay. However, he just couldn't fight off the feeling that something was wrong._

_He looked ahead of him and to the knights to the side of Naruto's carriage, Tenten and Lee. He had to have faith that this plan would work and they would be able to apprehend the thief. After all, he had his best knights as well as his best friends by his side and he wanted to do right by the royal family._

_On the off chance that Sasuke decided not to attack the carriage at all, they would successfully make it towards Suna._ _A trip Naruto made every year to visit his best friend as well as his betrothed since birth, Sabaku no Gaara. The Prince of Suna._ _Unfortunately, Gaara could not make it to Naruto's coronation as he had business in Oto. Otherwise, the two would have gone back to the Sand Village together._

_Luckily, the Prince of Suna had made up for his absence in lavish gifts and promises of ramen back in Suna._

_Neji prayed silently to himself that they could apprehend the Uchiha and learn more about the curse but even if they hadn't, at least Naruto could spend time with Gaara in Suna and get his mind off the curse._

_Sasuke might have the gall to attack a royal carriage but the thief knew better than to try his luck in the Sand Village._

_Suddenly, Neji heard a rustling noise in the bushes. He braced onto his longsword with his thick black gloves, the sharp blade ready to strike. His eyes followed the noise. Keeping his breath steady, he raised his hand with the intent to halt the carriages. But before he could even signal to his soldiers, Tenten and Lee, an arrow struck his horse._

_The long-haired knight was effectively thrown from his steed and he rolled forward onto the ground, but quickly regained his footing. Neji turned to calm down the animal to no avail and panicked inwardly._

_The carriage in front of him with Naruto in it halted and Neji's units turned to look at each other, alarmed by the noise._

_Soon, arrows struck the horses to the side of Naruto's carriages and the two were also effectively knocked from their horses. Tenten unconscious and Lee rendered helpless as one of the horses had stomped on his leg._

_Neji clenched his fists and drew his sword as an arrow flew at his face. The sharp projectile, clattered against the ground and Neji kicked it to the side, widening his stance. The thief sidestepped quickly emerging from the thick brush, clashing a sharp dagger against the noble knight's sword. Neji's eyes widened at the encounter but he quickly snapped out of it and dove forward, slashing at the thief with great strength and ferocity._

_"_ _This is the best that the prince's royal knight has to offer?" Sasuke laughed in his face, diving under Neji's sword as the knight swung at the thief in frustration. The knight briefly saw the thief reach into his boot and pull something out. Neji kicked Sasuke's arm and the object clattered to the ground. A thin, long needle._

_"That's the best the most notorious thief in Konoha has to offer?" Neji prompted. "Trying to defeat me with a sewing kit, Uchiha?" the knight scoffed._

_"Could do it with just the thread." Sasuke replied easily._

_Both men looked at the needle briefly before Neji finally dove forward and grabbed it. Unfortunately, Sasuke had elbowed the knight, the needle falling to the ground once more. The raven speedily swiped it from the dirt path_ _and dug the needle deep into Neji's unprotected side, causing the knight to fall to the ground._

_The long-haired knight grabbed at the thief by the collar, harshly clashing his forehead with his own before the two had stumbled backwards. It gave Neji enough time to dislodge the needle._

_But before the long-haired knight could advance on the thief, he fell to the ground on his knees. The Uchiha smiled, picking up the tacky longsword and raising it up to the knight's throat._

_"Fortunately for me and unfortunately for you, this needle packs quite the punch, Hyuuga." Sasuke said, tilting his head to the side and prodding at the long-haired knight's neck._

_"Poison needle, huh? Really? Cheap, Uchiha." Neji spit out, panting and struggling to keep his eyes open._

_"Aw, not my handiwork. A friend in Oto made it for me actually. You're hurting his feelings honestly. Not mine."  The thief frowned._

_"Don't touch the prince." Neji sneered. "You put one of your filthy hands on him and I'll personally see to the end of your pathetic bloodline."_

_Sasuke pretended to be offended for a moment before he laughed in the knight's face, dropping his sword to the side in favor of grabbing him by the roots of his hair. Neji was forced to look up at him._

_"Really? Because the way I see it, I'm the one closer to ending the Hyuuga bloodline as of right now." Sasuke quipped before letting go of his hair and kicking him backwards._

_Neji rolled over onto his side, clutching it tightly before eventually passing out from the searing pain._

* * *

The knight had felt disappointed in himself for letting down his queen and his kingdom but most importantly, saddened by the loss of the kingdom's brightest beacon of hope. Prince Naruto. 

"That's horrible, Neji. I'm glad you're here with us now and your friends will be fine. After all, Tsunade's specialty is healing magic," Minato smiled down at the knight. The blond turned towards his wife, motioning for her to comfort his mother. Kushina had draped a blanket over Tsunade's shoulders and sat her down back onto the throne. 

"I'm so sorry, Kushina. This is all my family's fault and that damned curse." the distressed blonde woman turned towards her daughter. "Your brat is probably out there, all alone and scared. Most likely hungry." the queen made a face. 

"But mostly hungry." Kushina shrugged. Everyone in the room had nodded. 

Suddenly, Kushina's eyes widened in realization and she walked over to her husband. Minato looked towards his wife with a raised brow. "Honey, what's the matter?" he asked. "Well, aside from our son having been kidnapped by a murderous thief." he frowned. 

"You know how my family has that _interesting_ habit we both talked about?" Kushina muttered under her breath. Minato's face paled and covered his face with his hands. 

"Should we tell them?" Kushina asked.

"It would certainly be helpful!" Minato loudly whispered in disbelief. 

The two approached Tsunade on the throne and before they could say anything, she shot up from the seat, "Shikamaru! Finally, you're here." the blonde woman sighed, brushing off her son and walking towards the kingdom's tactician. 

"Do you have a plan? Any updates on the situation at all?" the queen urgently asked the lazy, dark-haired teen. Despite his young age, he had shown great promise in his strategic thinking and planning skills. And the only person who could formulate a plan clever enough to track down the thief. 

"No updates, Sasuke covers his tracks well so nothing has changed. Anyways, Naruto isn't dead and we're going to get him back." Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and took out a scroll. He peered at it before stuffing it in his pocket again. "Sasuke can't make money off of Naruto unless he demands ransom." 

"What about the possibility of Naruto being sold off to another kingdom?" Tsunade asked seriously.

"Although we don't have the best relationship with Oto and they would pay a lot for the sole heir of the Konoha Kingdom, Sasuke isn't the kind of person to do that." Shikamaru replied easily. 

"But nice enough to kidnap an innocent boy?" Neji scoffed. "How do you know for sure he wouldn't stoop that low? To sell Naruto as a political hostage?" the long-haired knight questioned. 

"Neji, that's enough." Tsunade silenced the knight and turned back towards the strategist. 

"How do we get him back, Shikamaru? We're directing all resources towards you." the queen stated, "I will do whatever it takes to get my grandson back. Curse or no curse, I want Sasuke Uchiha back here in chains. Dead or alive, I don't care." the blonde woman sneered. 

"As long as there are no uncertain variables, I believe my plan will work." Shikamaru stated, a determined expression on his face. "Naruto is my friend and I will work hard to get him back." the lazy teen nodded. 

"Okay, about those variables," Kushina trailed off. Everyone stared at the redhead with confused expressions. Minato shot his wife a nervous look as she stepped forward. 

"How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered under his breath, turning his attention toward the couple. 

* * *

As the blond's eyes fluttered open, he let out a yawn. "Are we there yet?" Naruto drawled out tiredly, looking around. It was nightfall, so the blond could barely see out into the forest. The wind outside was sharp, but the man in front of him held onto a lantern with a bright, warm light that the blond found himself comforted by. 

Although Naruto had found it odd that he couldn't spot any cities or towns, he figured it was fine. After all, Neji wouldn't let anything happen to him. But, they should have been halfway to Suna by now and settling in at a nearby inn or set up camp at the very least. 

"No, so go back to sleep if you know what's good for you." a rude voice scolded the blond, snapping him out his daze. Naruto nodded and settled back onto the comfy back of the man in front of him. 

It took all of 2 seconds before Naruto threw himself off the horse in alarm, realizing that he had just been kidnapped by the most notorious thief in Konoha and an Uchiha at that! 

 _Wait_ , Naruto thought. _An Uchiha!_ The prince scrambled upwards, struggling since his hands had been bound and turned towards the Uchiha on his horse. Sasuke had pulled at the reigns before jumping off the steed. 

"Hey, listen Uchiha!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly before getting thrown to the ground by the thief. The two fell to the ground, with Sasuke trapping the blond's legs between his own. 

"You have got to be the dumbest prisoner alive," Sasuke said, grabbing a dagger and holding it up to Naruto's neck. The blond underneath him flushed a dark pink as he stared up at the handsome thief, wondering why his heart had been beating so fast. He shook his head, brushing off the thought. 

"Please, you wouldn't kill me." Naruto spit out. "You need me _alive_ and as much as I hate to admit it, I need you too." the blond gritted out. Sasuke lessened his grip on the knife and pulled the blond up. 

"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke questioned. 

"A long time ago, an Uchiha cast a curse on the royal family. I can't ascend the throne without losing my most precious person. He claimed that only an Uchiha could break the curse." Naruto stated, showing Sasuke the mark on his hand. 

Sasuke's eyes widened at the sight, rubbing the nape of his neck absentmindedly. 

"Hn, interesting. Well, sorry to break it to you, I have no idea what you're talking about." the raven replied in a bored tone. Naruto gaped at the thief. 

"What do you _mean_ you don't know how to break the curse! You're an Uchiha!" Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke flinched as spit flew from the blond's mouth onto his face and brushed it off with his thumb, annoyed by the prince's brash behavior. 

"I don't know how to do magic, why would I steal a tracking spell if I could make one, dobe!" the thief asked with wide eyes. 

"You!" Naruto cried out. 

"What?" Sasuke responded. 

"You!" Naruto lunged forward. "You stole the tracking spell from Deidara. You teme! I needed that spell. And Deidara thought I stole it and almost killed me!" the prince yelled pointing an accusatory finger at the raven. He pushed Sasuke onto his back and hovered over him. Sasuke's head landed against the ground with a loud thump and let out a grunt. He glared up at the blond. 

"That's not my fault! What do you need a tracking spell for anyways? Why can't you get one at the palace?" he questioned. Naruto turned away from the raven and crawled off of him. 

"Why do you?" Naruto spat back in an accusatory tone. 

Sasuke shrugged, "Like I'd tell you, dobe." 

Naruto moved into a more comfortable position and gave the thief a sympathetic look. He supposed the Uchiha had his reasons for keeping his personal life a secret. But he had no boundaries at all. 

"I'm trying to find my grandfather Jiraiya. I can't get one at the palace because well," Naruto trailed off, "My grandmother, the queen, thinks that he's a sleaze who ran away from his responsibilities to have one-night stands with floozies." The blond mimicked in his grandmother's booming voice. Sasuke suppressed a laugh. 

"But you don't think that's what happened." the raven stated bluntly, getting up from his position on the ground. The raven casually leaned backwards and folded his legs over one another. 

Originally, he had wanted to use the blond to get ransom money. But he was interested in the blond's story. Sasuke had just figured the prince had grown up like any other spoiled brat with shallow goals and ideals about friendship and leadership. He couldn't have imagined that the blond ever felt remotely lost or alone. Yet, here he was talking about someone that had abandoned him.

 _A similar sentiment he could definitely relate to_ , the raven shook his head. 

"I know that's not what happened. I spent a lot of time with my grandfather! He even taught me a little bit of magic when I was little. He practically raised me along with my parents. He loved Tsunade and he loved his family, there's no way he would just run off like that without a valid reason. If he never told us what it was, then it must have been something serious." the blond said in a sincere tone. 

"So, the tracking spell is to find him?" Sasuke questioned. "Then what?" 

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto retaliated. 

The thief laughed and motioned for his horse to join him before turning back towards Naruto to continue talking to him. 

"What if the truth is he really did run out on you? And he tells you what you don't want to hear?" the raven replied easily. Naruto sat there for a moment, raising a finger to brush over his mouth in a thoughtful manner.

Naruto furrowed his brows.  _Jiraiya knew how broken Tsunade was after Dan's death! They adopted a son together and he became a brave, brave knight who won over the heart of a beautiful princess and had a beautiful baby just like in a fairy tale. And he loved us, he loved happy endings. In the books he wrote, they always had happy endings. Well, the ones his parents let him read._

 _He had a happy ending with us._ Naruto smiled to himself. 

The blond struggled against his ropes, feeling the tightness crawl up his arms.  _But what if Sasuke is right? What if he got sick of us? What if he had lied about loving us the whole time?_ Naruto gulped, peering into the quiet forest and avoiding the thief's intense gaze. 

"Well, don't hurt yourself by thinking too hard." Sasuke said with a crooked smirk. 

"Jiraiya isn't like that! What do you know anyways, you're just a lowly thief!" Naruto spit out. The blond immediately cupped his hands over his mouth. The Uchiha's eyes widened in shock, a hurt expression flashed on his face but he quickly snapped out of it and then hopped up.

"I'm sorry." Naruto said dejectedly. "I didn't mean that!" the blond scrambled up to meet the raven's gaze. 

The two paused for a moment, staring at each other. Sasuke's lips parted, struggling to find words. Instead, Sasuke backed away and walked up to his horse and started unpacking supplies. 

"Let's make camp here. That's enough bickering for the night." Sasuke said, throwing a blanket at the blond's face. He caught it a split second before it hit him in the face and moved it aside so he could properly glare at his captor. "Hn, be lucky you even get a blanket." 

Naruto smoothed down the soft, dark blanket with his hand. Hands. He had still been quite tied up. "Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me, dobe." Sasuke pulled out a rope from his belongings before turning to Naruto with a nasty grin. The blond peered up at the raven nervously as Sasuke hastily got to work. 

The blond pouted at the thief, who had him tied up to a sturdy tree, the ropes pulling at his wrists and around the tree. 

"Now, go to sleep. You had no problem doing so earlier, dobe." Sasuke said as he walked away a fair distance. He placed the lantern he had been carrying earlier between the two. Then, the thief untied the cloak around his neck, folded it neatly and then pulled out a thin sheet from his bag for him to lie on. Then, the Uchiha pulled out a short fleece blanket and threw it over his body before lying down. 

Naruto frowned seeing that the thief had slept like this, lived like this. He didn't even have a pillow when Naruto had twelve he didn't even use. 

Sasuke glanced at the blonde once more before rolling over onto his side and dimming the bright, glowy lantern.

There was silence for all of thirty seconds. Before the noise of a growling stomach resounded throughout the camp. 

"Sasuke." Naruto whispered across the campsite. 

"Yes, dobe?" Sasuke asked in a tone that was suspiciously nice. 

"I might be hungry." the blond replied. 

"What alerted you? The loud, jarring growl coming from your stomach? Honestly, dobe, you probably woke up the whole forest!" Sasuke aggressively whispered back. 

"Hey, it's not my fault! I didn't expect to be kidnapped, sorry I didn't pack a lunch or anything!" the prince replied. 

"Look, we'll eat in the morning. I promise." Sasuke said, he flickered the lantern on in order to send the blond an honest grin. When he did, he saw the blond leaning against the tree with the blanket draped over his body curled up against the tree. The lantern lit up his unique features like his whiskered cheeks and twinkling blue eyes. 

 _Had blue eyes always been this blue before or just Naruto's?_ the thief thought to himself. 

Sasuke felt entranced by the blond's unusually sad gaze and unconsciously reached out towards him before recoiling. The Uchiha quickly suppressed the strange urge to make him smile. The blond looked surprised, but readjusted his position against the tree and gave the thief an awkward smile. 

Naruto looked down at him and nodded. Sasuke moved to turn off the lantern before Naruto interjected, "Sasuke, could you actually keep the light on for me?" the blond's voice unnaturally timid. The Uchiha complied and moved to flip over onto his side. 

The two sat in the company of the flickering light for a couple of minutes before Sasuke finally spoke. "You asked me why I needed the tracking spell." Naruto, who had closed his eyes, parted his lips suddenly. 

He turned towards the Uchiha but his gaze had been fixed upwards, his smooth nose traced upwards at the stars above him through the thick branches of trees. 

"I need it to find my brother Itachi. When your kingdom ordered the execution of the Uchiha clan, my parents went into hiding under assumed names, along with our uncle Obito. We were all happy. But, eventually, they had been found out." Sasuke said, he tucked his hands behind his neck, nestling his head on top of his intertwined fingers. 

Naruto turned his body around as much as he could towards his captor and listened in. 

"My uncle Obito was a powerful wizard, one that could certainly break your curse. Anyways, he took my brother and I away and raised us on his own despite not being much older than us. We barely scraped by but at least we were together. I was no good at magic, but Itachi was a gifted apprentice. He picked up spells quickly, brewed perfect potions, you name it. But one day, Itachi met a man named Danzo Shimura." Sasuke flinched at the mention of the crooked man's name. 

Naruto had heard of the Shimura clan and knew them to conduct their business shadily and treat its members poorly, yet the clan still had quite a bit of leverage in both Konoha and Oto. He had wondered how Sasuke's family got entangled with them if they were trying to lie low. 

"Shimura used to be a Konoha noble but the royal family banished him. He had been trying to worm his way into the royal family by any means necessary, even attempting to murder the queen. After that, he was cast out. He was bitter. Alone. He eventually regrouped and heard of a budding sorcerer with unprecedented talent."  the raven continued. 

"Itachi." Naruto said aloud. Sasuke nodded. 

"Danzo convinced Itachi that he could use his powers to destroy Konoha, get revenge on the people who took his family away from him. Obito learned of Itachi's plan to get revenge and tried convincing Itachi that revenge wasn't the answer and that it would only result in more pain and heartache. Itachi didn't listen and they fought. I was scared. At the time I was only six years old. Itachi was about to strike me, but Obito blocked it, absorbing the brute force of Itachi's magic. Obito told me to run away and find a man that Obito had known in his younger days. He would take care of me. And he did. But Obito never came back for me and I never saw Itachi again." Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes. 

"I was happy for a little while but my happiness didn't last. After all, if there's anything I've learned is that Uchihas don't get happy endings. I turned into a petty thief to make ends meet. Got a reputation and picked up a nasty habit of stealing pretty things." Sasuke said as he looked at the blond with a clever grin.

Naruto ignored the prince's comment and pressed on, "What happened to Obito? What happened to the man who took care of you? What about your happiness?" 

Sasuke scoffed and got up, tearing the sheets off of him. "Doesn't matter. What matters now is finding Itachi. Getting my revenge on him for killing our uncle." 

"And abandoning you." Naruto finished sadly. 

The thief ignored the comment. 

"You're using the tracking spell to find Itachi? He's your only family, you can't kill him. You'll be doing the exact same thing he wanted to do, which tore your family apart, getting revenge on people who hurt you." Naruto urged. Sasuke paused as he settled into an upward position. 

"Easy to say when you have the perfect family and the family my brother was trying to kill was yours." the thief spit out through clenched teeth. Naruto recoiled at Sasuke's harshness. "You have been coddled in a palace your whole life. Don't act like you know what I'm going through." the blond prince flinched. 

"I may not know what you're going through. But you're a part of this kingdom and I want you to find your happiness." Naruto flashed Sasuke a determined smile. "Let's use the tracking spell. Find out where Itachi is. Right now."

"Are you out of your mind, dobe? This spell only works for 72 hours. That doesn't leave us much time. We can use it in the morning." Sasuke asked. 

"Oh, come on Sasuke. It's not like I have anywhere to be. Entertain me, won't you?" Naruto asked, raising a brow. Sasuke shook his head in disbelief. "If you do, I won't fight you or try to run away. And then you can still sell me on the black market or whatever afterwards. You have my word." Naruto assured the raven-haired man. 

"Why do you care so much about my happiness anyways? I'm just a lowly thief, aren't I?" Sasuke asked, turning around to fish something out of his bag. 

"I can't ascend the throne with a good conscience unless I find a way for you to be happy. I want to right the wrongs that my family did to yours by having your clan executed. If your only family is Itachi, I want you to find peace with him and peace with your clan. You don't have to trust me, but having a prince as your right hand man might be," Naruto trailed off trying to find the right word, "Well, handy!" the blond happily exclaimed. 

Sasuke struggled to fight off a toothy grin at the blond's strange antics. "Fine, but we do _everything_ I say _when_ I say it and _how_ I say we do it. Dobe." Sasuke emphasized. 

Naruto happily nodded. "So, exactly like how everything has been so far. Classic Sasuke." the blond snorted. Sasuke resisted the urge to flick the blond on the forehead. 

Instead, the thief pulled out an old, yellowed map and although some of the words and places had long since faded, the thief could still manage to find his way. Hesitantly, the raven took out the tracking spell, glancing at Naruto through the clear vial. 

Sasuke sighed and plucked one of his hairs quickly, dropping it into the vial where it had changed colors before turning clear again. Naruto looked at Sasuke with wide eyes before the raven explained, "A tracking spell only works if you use a strand of hair or something of the person you're trying to find. Or something that belongs to their blood relative. So, me." 

Naruto nodded in understanding, unfamiliar with magic. 

"Here goes nothing." Sasuke said as he dripped the potion out onto the page where the clear droplets scattered about before concentrating and attaching themselves to a section on the map and crystallizing into a deep blue color. Naruto gasped, excited at the effects of the potion. Sasuke took in the blond's dumbfounded expression and smiled to himself. Before Naruto could turn to look up at him from the map, the thief turned away and coughed, refusing to meet the prince's warm gaze. 

"That's amazing!" the blond exclaimed. "But what happens when Itachi is on the move?" he asked curiously. 

"The map is now enchanted for the next 72 hours. When Itachi moves, the colored mass where Itachi is located will move with him." Sasuke explained. "Looks like he's in Oto. Which passes through Suna. Great." the raven exhaled in frustration. 

"What's wrong with Suna?" Naruto questioned the raven. 

"I might have stolen something. Important. From the royal family there. So, they don't exactly love me." Sasuke admitted. Naruto rolled his eyes, trying to remind himself that somewhere deep, deep, _deep_ inside this man was a human heart. 

"Well then, you're in luck because I'm totally best friends with the Prince of Suna." Naruto explained, "So, I can totally get you in." 

"Really? How does a dobe like you know Gaara?" Sasuke scoffed, folding the map back up and putting away his things. 

"I'll have you know that I'm not a dobe! And also, I happen to be _betrothed_ to the Prince of Suna." the blond replied smartly and would have crossed his arms had they not been bound. Sasuke paused while putting away his things and bit his lip angrily. 

"Congratulations, I didn't know someone could be stupid enough to agree to marry you, but you manage to prove everyone wrong everyday, don't you?" Sasuke asked, tossing his bag at a nearby tree stump.  

The blond's eye twitched angrily at the raven's cold remark. " Listen, teme, I'll get you in and out of Suna. Convince my _fiancé_ not to murder you for _kidnapping_ me and also get us some supplies so we don't have to sleep on rags. But, you have to promise that before you kill or hurt Itachi or whatever you're going to do to him, you have to let me talk to him first." Naruto reasoned. 

The raven twitched at the mentioning of the word  _fiancé_ and tried his best not to think of why the thought of Naruto marrying that red-haired royal from Suna bothered him so much. It wasn't like Sasuke cared about him beyond the million gold price tag stamped on his forehead. If anything, being betrothed to the Prince of Suna doubled his price tag. 

"What? No way, dobe." Sasuke responded. "Good night." the raven moved over onto his side. 

"Sasuke, you said he was Obito's apprentice. And you mentioned that Obito was powerful enough to break my curse. Maybe Itachi knows how to break my curse too. You have to give me this. You can do whatever you need to do to him afterwards." Naruto pleaded. 

Sasuke, tired of the night's events gave in. _Anything to shut him up and finally get some sleep_ , the thief thought angrily to himself. 

"Whatever. Fine. As long as you can get us in, through, and out. Fast. Preferably." Sasuke rolled his eyes. Naruto grinned and settled back into the most comfortable position he could against the tree.

Both of the men closed their eyes, finally falling asleep against the cool ground. Naruto, felt his stomach growl but it hadn't been loud enough to wake up the slumbering thief. He twitched his nose in annoyance and willed off his hunger, settling back against the tree. The thought of a courageous adventure afoot left a slight smile on his face before dozing off. 

* * *

Back at the palace, Shikamaru had begun assembling the resources he required for the plan to get Naruto back from the Uchiha. Everyone gathered around the large table in the throne room and gulped out of nervousness. 

On the large circular table, they had laid out a massive map of the kingdom and all of its surrounding kingdoms, detailed and pristine in every way and form. Strewn across the lacquered wood were various spells, potions and scrolls.

Knights from other units such as Kakashi's were there. Sakura leaned over the table, examining the map, pondering where their young prince had been whisked off to. Tsunade had sent Neji to the infirmary to be re-examined and treated for his wounds even though he insisted he was fine. 

"Are you sure this is a good idea? The spell only works for 72 hours and it'll be a while before I find the ingredients for a new one." Tsunade sighed. The royal family had not gotten any rest since before the coronation and were exhausted, physically and emotionally. 

"Well given the _new_ and _somewhat_ dire circumstances, we'll have to accelerate the plan. Tsunade, the tracking spell if you will. Minato or Kushina, a hair please." Shikamaru urged as Tsunade handed over a clear beaker of fluid and Minato pulled a hair from out of his scalp hesitantly handing it over to the tactician. 

"Now, we just drop it on this map and it should find Naruto." Shikamaru stated. Everyone waited with baited breath around the map. The droplets hit the page and every person present in the room let out a gasp. As the droplets simply slid off of the page, refusing to interact with the map at all. The room grew full of frustrated exhales and curses. And some sobbing. 

"Well, that was anticlimactic. Night, everyone!" Kakashi grinned, turning around. Minato grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. 

"Honestly Kakashi, I thought I taught you better than this!" the blond man scolded his former student. The silver-haired man simply shrugged. 

"Maybe there was something wrong with the potion." Sakura insisted. 

"Excuse me?" Tsunade asked, offended that her student had questioned her handiwork. The pink-haired knight paled.

"It won't do us any good arguing, we're all frustrated and not to mention, tired. So, the sooner we find Naruto, the sooner we can all go to sleep!" Kushina exclaimed, obviously flustered by the situation. Minato cautiously approached his wife and gave her a small smile. Tsunade turned towards the couple and put her hand on Sakura's shoulder. 

"Anyways, there's one caveat that the spell has and it could be the thing preventing us from tracking Naruto." the queen said. Sakura nodded her head. 

"What's the caveat?" Minato asked confusedly. "Why can't we find our son!" he cried out.  

"A tracking spell only works if the person wants to be found." Sakura slowly stated, her eyes widening in realization.

"Well, this makes the plan more complicated. How troublesome. Do I really have to come up with a new plan?" Shikamaru drawled out lazily. Everyone turned to look at him with heated glares. 

"Alright, alright, already. Jeez." Shikamaru said, traveling down the hall with his hands deep in the torn pockets of his slacks. The teen dipped down his head and ducked through the large wooden spires towards his chambers to get to work. 

"How come our baby doesn't want to be found!" Kushina cried out and held onto Minato. The blond man, equally distressed, held onto his wife in an attempt to calm her down. "That mean yet handsome thief must have him under some sort of spell!" the red-haired woman shrieked into her husband's chest. 

"We'll be okay, Kushina. We just have to have faith that Naruto will come back to us. As a human. Hopefully." Minato gulped. His wife pulled away from him and nodded her head.

Everyone around the table glanced at Kushina who had started nervously biting on her nails. Upon looking around at everyone else, she grinned nervously, pulling her long red hair over her face to cover her blush. 

* * *

Sometime in the night, Sasuke had reached over to turn off the lantern, the light beginning to bother his rather sensitive eyes. He yawned and flipped over, the sheets rustling along with his body as his fingers brushed against the knob to lower the brightness. 

 _Hopefully the dobe is asleep already_ , Sasuke thought to himself. _Then again, he hadn't heard his snoring for the past couple of hours_. 

As Sasuke looked up, his eyes widened realizing Naruto had gone missing. And all that had been left in his wake were... a pile of his clothes? Sasuke immediately got up, looking around until he heard a noise in the bushes. _There was no way anyone could have tracked them_ _, he covered his tracks and he covered them well,_  the thief thought frustratedly. He activated his Sharingan, three black tomoe spinning wildly in this eyes.

 _If it's an animal, please don't be a bear,_ he prayed silently to himself. The thief would gladly take the life of a royal scoundrel than an innocent animal. 

Swiftly, the thief pulled out his trusty dagger and turned toward the noise, only to find a fox peering up at him. The critter had soft orange fur and long, thin whiskers. 

 _And there's a dead rabbit in its mouth._ Sasuke dropped his dagger and walked over to the fox somewhat cautiously. 

It licked its paws before beginning to chomp down on the rabbit. The thief examined the fox, leaning down. "Aw, you're not so threatening after all." Sasuke said as he pet the fox gently. 

"Do you know happen to know where my blond dobe ran off to in the middle of the night without his clothes?" Sasuke cooed gently. 

Suddenly, the fox bit him angrily, glaring up at him with bright blue eyes. Sasuke flinched and recoiled from the fox's bite.  _Eyes that resembled a certain blond prince._

"No way." Sasuke said aloud. "Dobe, is that you?" the raven-haired thief asked in disbelief. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly, y'alls comments are so sweet and it really inspires me to keep writing so thank you LOL also this is so self-indulgent u can very much tell


	4. Fox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto soon learns about his mother's lineage in the most direct way possible. As does Sasuke. Watch (or read) as these two embark on a journey to transform Naruto back into a human and the prince encounters someone from his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi friends ok thanku so much for all the kudos n comments it's rlly encouraging 
> 
> this chapter is rlly long so bear with me

"Would you like anything to drink, sir?" the waitress leaned down, placing a large silver plate on the wooden table where the Uchiha had sat. The thief glanced back up at the woman and smiled up at her. 

"That's all. Thank you." the Uchiha replied easily. The first thing that had struck the raven-haired thief was the rich and peppery aroma of the food in front of him. The thief had ordered a roasted chicken leg resting on a bed of sautéed parsnips, leeks, and carrots and fluffy, buttery rice. And to top it all off, the salty, crispy chicken leg was smothered in a delightful lemon sauce. 

While he didn't eat that often or that much, the Uchiha had to restrain himself from digging into the meal like a wild animal and instead speedily picked up his spoon and split apart the tender meat easily. 

However, instead of raising the food to his own mouth, the Uchiha glanced around before he casually tossed it underneath the table. When he had heard the meat fall to the ground unceremoniously, he lifted a curious brow. 

He ducked underneath the table to find his satchel had been empty and the sleeping fox that had been safely nestled inside had snuck out. 

"Aw, is this your pet, sir?" the waitress exclaimed. The Uchiha was surprised to still see the woman there because he had honestly forgotten about her existence all together. 

The Uchiha nodded, "And he's so well behaved." he gritted out frustratedly. 

The fox rubbed itself against the Uchiha's leg before jumping up onto the table and nibbling away at the chicken on the plate of food.

"Well, I'll leave you two to it." the waitress smiled before ducking her head down and walking back towards the kitchen. The Uchiha resisted the urge to flick the fox on its snout and instead dug in before the fox got too far. 

For the first time in a long time, the Uchiha had shared a warm meal with someone. And he was so, so grateful. Although he would never admit it to anyone. The small animal had gnawed on the chicken leg hungrily, intentionally avoiding the vegetables on the plate. 

He wasn't surprised. _After all, the dobe didn't eat vegetables back then. Why would he eat them now?_

Unbeknownst to the Uchiha and the fox, a couple of men in the corner of the tavern had been spying on them warily, concentrating their gaze on the thief. 

* * *

After the hearty meal, the Uchiha and the fox continued on their long voyage. Not to Oto. Not to Suna. 

No. 

Because the dobe had to go and turn himself into a fox somehow. Whether it had been a poision flower that the dobe ate in his sleep, some magic powder he inhaled on accident or the curse, it was now up to the Uchiha to get the dobe back to his original form. 

The two had been travelling since yesterday evening when Sasuke had finally caught up to the crafty critter that had very much eluded him for the most part as the fox had no recollection of being the dobe _seeing that the animal had run away from Sasuke for hours on end_. Sasuke had only lured him in with a roasted deer leg before the fox had warmed up to him and jumped into his satchel where it had fell soundly asleep. 

Therefore, Sasuke came to the conclusion that Naruto probably wasn't in control of his actions in his fox form. For his own sanity, mostly. 

With that, he hoisted his bag over his shoulder, being careful not to wake the slumbering fox and speedily trudged through thick brush. He had a lot of ground to make up as a result of this drawback and he would be damned if he lost Itachi's location over this silly conundrum. 

Yet, he had to admit the dobe having turned into a fox was a tad more concerning that confronting his murderous older brother. After all, Naruto wasn't worth anything like this. But, he was worth a _fortune_ as a human. Despite his human form being extremely brash and not to mention, annoying. 

Because Sasuke had not a clue in terms of using magic to revert Naruto back to this human form, he decided to seek out some old  _friends,_ if he could even call them that. Since the thief didn't really have friends. He was an Uchiha after all. Destined to be alone, live alone and die alone. Having been punished by the royal family for an ancient curse, he supposed. 

The Uchiha sighed and forced himself to stop thinking about the death of his clan, the dobe, and instead tried focusing on the fact that he had to turn a 4-hour journey into a 2-hour one. 

When the raven-haired man spotted his horse, he gripped onto the saddle and stepped up onto the horse. He threw his leg over the sides of the noble animal and whistled in a low tone. 

But before the horse could trot off into the thick brush, a heavy silver bullet flew past the Uchiha's ear and collided with the tree in front of them. The Uchiha turned around swiftly and spotted a man with a golden revolver in his hand, the gun still smoking. The fox in his bag jostled around, spooked by the noise but tried to remain as still as possible. 

"May I suggest working on your aim, creepy stalker guy?" Sasuke asked sarcastically. The thief jumped off his horse and stretched leisurely and made a movement to reach for the smoke bomb at his side, but paused when the man put his gun down. 

"I didn't aim for you, Uchiha. Well, not this time." the man relented. Two others gathered behind him. "We've been tracking you for months now given there's an insanely generous price placed on your head. A price that has since quadrupled since word got out that you've stolen the beating heart of Konoha. It's funny Uchiha, you're worth way more alive than dead." One of the men sounded behind him. 

"The queen wants to see the look in your eyes as she plunges her hand into your chest to pull out your beating heart." another one sneered. 

Sasuke merely scoffed, paying no attention to them. " _Months?_ Well, obviously you haven't been doing a great job considering I'm still very much alive and you three are very much not swimming in riches if your rags are anything to go by." He ignored the second comment altogether. 

"Rags! My grandmother sewed this for me!" one of them cried out, defensively clutching onto his pants. "Sure, they're old fashioned but this is all I have to remember her by and--!" 

"Now I wish that bullet _did_ hit me in the skull. Just some friendly bounty hunter advice-if that is what you three indeed are-keep the dialogue to a minimum before your victim makes their dramatic escape into the sunset." the thief said before clicking his tongue and drawing his hand out of his pocket. 

"And I'm sure those threads were tasteful at some point, your grandmother was certainly talented." the thief smiled. 

The three men guffawed and before they could respond with an attack, the Uchiha threw down a smoke bomb and quickly sidestepped away. He hopped back on his horse speedily, taking one cautionary glance behind him before ordering his steed to take off as fast as possible. 

The Uchiha smirked as he sped off and the three were nowhere in sight. _Like those losers could bag me._

The fox in his bag yipped happily and Sasuke relented, giving the gentle creature a loving pat on the head. 

However that relief didn't last long as the three appeared in a carriage, stopping the Uchiha and the fox in their tracks. A shot fired at the ground near the Uchiha's horse, which would have effectively threw Sasuke had he not held onto his bag as he rolled forward and ducked behind an old stump. 

The thief evaded a couple shots before one nicked him on the arm. His horse had run off and that meant he was running out of options. The thief pulled out his bow and arrow, shooting one of the men in the chest before taking cover behind the tree, heaving heavily. A sudden pain shot up his arm and he resisted the powerful urge to cry out in pain as the bullet caused blood to pour out of his open wound. 

Quickly, the fox wormed its way out of the bag much to Sasuke's anger, surprise and worry. The fox had a bandage in its mouth and looked up at Sasuke with a glint in its blue eyes. 

"Get back in there! You'll get hurt!" the thief screamed. 

The fox shook its head and instead pushed its face against Sasuke's hand urgently. Yipping and crying out. The Uchiha gave in and grabbed the bandages, wrapping them around his arm speedily before sprinting along with the animal across a nearby riverbed. The two soon found a small ledge they could hide under and immediately took refuge there in order to regroup. 

Luckily, the three had still been in the cart when they were shooting and hadn't seen where the two had sped off to. However, they would be finding them soon. Sasuke checked what tools he had at his disposal and supposed that he could fend off the three men with... 

_One smoke bomb and a pair of tweezers._

The Uchiha sighed and pulled out his dagger warily. Did he think he could fend off one of those fancy new gun weapons with a dagger? Well, he was going to find out soon enough. 

The fox at his side was whimpering, covering its ears with its paws and shaking. The thief gulped as he heard footsteps approaching the ledge. Sasuke shakily gripped onto the weapon in his hands, red eyes glowering over the sharp edge of the blade. 

 _Even though it wasn't very fun to be alive to begin with, at least he was going to die having lived an interesting life_ , Sasuke thought to himself. He only felt sorry that the dobe couldn't even die as a human. Well, Sasuke didn't really mind if it meant the dobe wasn't going to be screaming into his ear before the end had engulfed them both. 

Sasuke quickly shut his eyes as a splash sounded in front of them. 

The fox in his arms jumped out and began growling loudly at the intruder in front of them. However, instead of it being the two remaining men, the thief's eyes travelled upwards and spotted a familiar shit-eating grin. 

"Oi, Uchiha. You looking for me or something? If you bothered to keep in touch, you would know that Hinata and I moved out of that old cottage years ago. We live here now, closer to town." the man replied haughtily. 

The man had short brown hair, a white shirt and brown vest, blue jeans, and common black, laced boots. In addition, he had a handsome grin plastered on his face and beneath his eyes, red, triangle-shaped tattoos. 

He offered a hand to pull him up and the Uchiha winced at the pain in his arm. "Kiba, how did you find me?" Sasuke grunted out. 

The fox quickly scampered back into the bag, poking its head out only to signal to Sasuke that it was ready to be carried again. The Uchiha relented and used his free hand to hoist the bag over his shoulder. 

"Well, your horse apparently loves you enough to find me and bring me here. And possibly stomp to death two men." Kiba said tossing the revolver towards the Uchiha. 

Sasuke smiled as he spotted his horse on top of the ledge. He sighed in relief knowing his horse had been okay and turned back towards his old friend. 

"How did you manage to move out of that crappy house anyways?" Sasuke asked, gripping his arm. Kiba winced upon seeing the other man's injury and he signaled to the horse that they had to hurry back to the house in order to treat the Uchiha's wound. So, the two men had both started walking towards Sasuke's horse while Kiba curously glanced at the Uchiha's companion. 

"Well, if you must know, I breed familiars for witches and wizards now. And the pay is quite generous." Kiba laughed. "Akamaru usually helps me out by communicating to me what my animals need and who would make a good match for who." the shaggy brown-haired man explained. 

The thief nodded his head in understanding and figured that his friend's life was really starting to come together. "Wait, you said you and Hinata-?" Sasuke suddenly interjected. Kiba, taken aback by the Uchiha's chattiness, chuckled. 

"Yeah, we got married about two years ago. We would have given you an invite, but you were pretty much untraceable and very much wanted by the royal family at that point." Kiba clarified. "You're here for her help, huh?" he asked. 

"I'm very much so still wanted by them and yes, I indeed need Hinata's help." Sasuke explained. "You see, I kind of kidnapped the Prince of Konoha and he happened to turn into a fox on my watch?" the thief stated in a confused tone even though it was a statement. Kiba looked at his old friend with wide eyes. 

"Uchiha, as much as we'd love to help, we also have a kid on the way and I really can't risk endangering our freedom for your actions." Kiba coughed. "Gotta say though, this has gotta be the heist of all heists." the brown-haired man responded. 

Sasuke nodded. "I know it looks bad. Well, sounds bad. But, I also got my hands on Itachi's location and the prince, believe it or not, agreed to take me there if I help him break some curse that one of my ancestors cast on the Konoha Royal Family. Now, there is a time limit and we need to get there as soon as possible." the thief pleaded with the familiar breeder. 

The two had arrived at the gate of Kiba and Hinata's house where the raven gave the brown-haired man a meaningful look. "You know how long I've waited for this moment and I promise as soon as you two help me turn Naruto back into a human, he can explain the whole situation. I won't bolt. I know I've run away in the past, but I don't want to be that person anymore." Sasuke begged. 

Kiba sighed. He wanted to believe the Uchiha especially because Sasuke had never come to him with so much desperation in his eyes. And he knew that Hinata and him were the closest to family the Uchiha still had. Well, aside from Itachi. But that was a whole other thing. 

"Hinata is at a friend's house, picking something up. I'm sure we can both figure out how to turn your friend back into a human." he explained. The Uchiha nodded his head and Kiba moved to lead them back into the house. 

The Uchiha then winced at the pain that suddenly shot up his arm and he was quickly ushered inside after checking to see if any neighbors' wandering eyes had spotted the thief or his fox. 

* * *

"Well, that's the fourth spell I've tried and still nothing." Hinata sighed exasperatedly. She lowered her hands from above the fox's form towards her lap again and the light pink mist that had surrounded her hands quickly disappeared. The fox on the table sat and whimpered at the defeated tone of the sorceress. 

The woman turned towards the Uchiha and pulled a silky, black strand of short hair behind her ear. Her dangling earrings made a twinkling noise as they moved along with her head. "Are you sure he didn't just run away and this little guy is just a normal fox?" she questioned. 

Sasuke shook his head. "That's for sure Naruto." he replied. 

Kiba coughed in the corner of the room and the two turned to look towards him. "What if Naruto were a shifter?" he asked. 

Hinata paused to think for a moment before biting her lip. Sasuke scoffed, "Shifters supposedly haven't existed for centuries. If they ever existed at all. No magic is powerful enough to transform a human into an animal and vice versa." Despite the thief's negative comment, something lit up in the girl's eyes. 

The witch twirled her finger in order to swivel around her stool in order to face her husband. "I think Kiba might have a point." she stated. "Didn't you have family that were shifters?" the woman asked her husband. 

"Before they were all hunted for sport? Yes." Kiba answered. 

"Were they not able to turn back?" Sasuke asked worriedly. 

"If Naruto truly is a shifter, then he can turn back." the brown-haired man replied. "But Naruto has to do it on his own, there's nothing we can do to will it." the man finished as he turned back to walk into the kitchen. 

Hinata looked at Sasuke with a sad look and moved to place her hand on Sasuke's shoulder. 

"There has to be a way for us to help. He's my ticket to Suna. Or rather through Suna." the thief muttered. "You see, my older brother is in Oto and I need to be there in about 47 hours." Sasuke replied dumfoundedly.

Hinata merely gave him a small smile. Kiba had walked back and handed her a cup of piping earl grey. 

"So, that's all? He's just a ticket to Suna. He must be important to you, Sasuke. Why else would you have come back here? To us? You don't ask anyone for help." Hinata spoke honestly. Kiba offered a small chuckle and the two turned to look at the Uchiha. 

The thief blushed madly and quickly spat back, "How could he ever mean more to me than a price tag? His ancestors murdered mine, I grew up thinking I was despicable. I still think I'm nothing more than the dirt on the bottom of their boot." 

The couple flinched at the Uchiha's harsh words. The fox that had been seated on the table before them placed two wary paws across its snout and cowered. 

"You know," Hinata broke the silence. "I used to live in the palace." Sasuke turned his head away from the woman but Hinata continued to speak nevertheless. "I had a cousin named Neji who was sworn to protect me, just because my father had cheated his in a cruel deal. We all tricked ourselves into believing it was the only solution because we were too afraid to confront a corrupt tradition. My cousin didn't even know me before he had to protect me and he was taught my life was always going to be more important than his." Kiba rested a hand upon his wife's shoulder and gave her a sympathetic glance. 

"And he complied because he had grown up thinking that his life had lesser value than mine. So, I ran away." Hinata explained. 

"Riches? Glory? You gave it all up because one man felt like your life was more important than his? What if it was?" Sasuke asked in disbelief. 

"I gave it all up because I couldn't handle knowing that Neji was going to live his life based on a destiny that was superficial. He deserved to be happy. Even when people told him he would never be happy because of his past, destiny, fate. And my life was no more precious than his." Hinata trailed off. 

Sasuke flinched, trying to focus on everything but the woman in front of him as he refused to recognize his own pain in Neji's story. 

"And I'm so glad I gave it up. Because I got all of this," Hinata gestured to the house around her. "I found love despite the loss of my family. And now I know that Neji may live a life of his own because I cared more about living a life of my own rather than being an heiress that was owned by family traditions." 

"You said Naruto was going to help you get to Suna. He may be part of the family that tore you away from yours, but he's willing to help you come to peace with the pain inflicted upon your family by his." Hinata said. 

The Uchiha turned towards the fox and scooted closer to the animal. 

"Look, dobe. I know you're in there somewhere. I really do need you to change back now. And not just because I need you to get through Suna, but because--," Sasuke struggled to find the words and hated how vulnerable he had appeared to both Hinata and Kiba. "I think that you deserve to be king if you care about your people this much and you can't do that if you're a fox, dobe." 

The fox merely stared up at Sasuke and Sasuke down at the small animal. The witch grinned at the two and smiled sadly, wondering how Neji was doing. Or how her family was doing in general, especially her younger sister. She clamped onto her husband's hand and he responded by rubbing her thumb with his in soothing circles. 

Suddenly, the thief jumped back as a red aura appeared around the fox, which had lifted the animal up and engulfed it until Naruto collided to the ground in his human form. The Uchiha quickly threw his cloak onto the prince and looked away. 

"Sasuke? Where am I? What happened? All I remember is going to sleep and then-," Naruto muttered, his eyes starting to flutter open as the blond let out a large yawn. The blond pulled the cloak over his shoulders absentmindedly as his eyes scanned the room. 

"Hinata!" Naruto shrieked as he faced the familiar face in front of him, completely disregarding the fact that he had no idea where he was or what was even happening. He was about to lunge forward to greet her with a hug until a hand collided with his forehead and was met with the angry gaze of a brown-haired man snarling at him. 

"I know you're a prince and all but hands off my wife! Well, at least put some clothes on first!" Kiba yelled. Hinata let out a good-natured chuckle. 

Naruto blushed and wrapped Sasuke's cloak tighter around himself. 

"I'll get your clothes, dobe." the thief muttered under his breath and moved to get back.

Kiba nodded and headed back into the kitchen. "I'll leave the two of you so you can chat, I better feed Akamaru." the man smiled and kissed his wife briefly on the lips before pulling back and walking off. Naruto quickly scrambled back into one of the chairs at the table and wrapped the cloak around him so it effectively covered _significant_ areas. 

The blond bowed his head in politeness before facing Hinata again, his mouth still gaping open at the quite obvious display of affection. "Can I take a wild guess why you left the palace now?" the prince mischievously grinned. 

"Oh, stop. You know my reason for leaving was more complicated than boys." Hinata replied calmly. "But if you must know, this one's name is Kiba Inuzuka and he makes me very happy." Naruto grinned at his friend's pleased expression. 

The blond prince had been genuinely happy to see his childhood friend doing so well and although he was surprised that Sasuke had been the one to lead him here, at least he knew now that she was safe. 

When Naruto was a child, the heiress had always played with him and even taught him how to ride a horse. In fact, the Hyuuga family was famous for the incredible horses that they bred and trained. Miso's mother had been Hinata's own horse. In addition, she baked him delectable sweets and told him stories before bedtime when his parents were away on long business trips.

But even when she was smiling, the blond sensed that she felt like she wasn't free. And that the palace that felt like home to him felt foreign to her. From birth, her path had been chosen for her. 

Even so, had their happiness and the experiences they shared together fake? Was Hinata always just counting the minutes before she could leave the palace? Naruto couldn't help but question if he was starting to feel the same. Yet, he loved his family and his kingdom and he couldn't deny that his heart certainly belonged with them. 

At the palace, he was surrounded by people who loved him and took care or him. How could he possibly leave that all behind for a life full of uncertainty? 

"You could have been happy at the palace. With us." Naruto said sadly. 

"Neji couldn't have been." Hinata responded. The two paused for a moment before Hinata spoke up again. 

"Please understand, Naruto. It killed me to leave you and I missed so much and my life has not been easy so I don't judge you if you think it was foolish of me to leave. Because it was. I loved you so much. I loved Neji so much. But, I wanted to live my life for me. I wanted to choose me for once and I-" Hinata trailed off as Sasuke came back into the room with Naruto's clothes. 

Sasuke handed them to the the blond. "I'll let you two finish. But we have to take off soon, dobe." the raven-haired thief said seriously. 

Naruto got up to change in another room and Hinata nodded to the blond. As she watched the blond leave the room, she started organizing things on the table.

Staring after him she thought back to how much she had hurt him. 

Of course she had realized that leaving like she did was selfish to the people who loved her and she should have at least told someone where she was going or how to contact her but this autonomy had been freeing. She would have never learned how to be self-reliant or have met Kiba, the love of her life. And now the two were expecting a baby. 

She brushed aside her manic thinking and Naruto returned to the room, dressed in a simple white dress shirt and brown pants. He had a sad expression on his face and recognized it from her days at the palace when Jiraiya had disappeared. 

He sat back down across from her and moved to hold her hands. "Are you happy? Truly, really happy?" Naruto asked. 

Hinata nodded. 

The blond bit his lip before he spoke again. "As your friend, I'm pissed you left. As a prince, I'm relieved you are safe. As your family," Naruto paused, "I'm so glad that you've found your happy ending." Hinata immediately shot forward and hugged the blond, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing tightly. 

Naruto happily smiled into the woman's hair and hugged her back. 

"Oops, not so tight, Naru." Hinata wheezed out and moved back to her comfy, seated position. "Baby on board." she said in a sharp inhale. The blond immediately let her go, his mouth wide open. 

"You're not!" the blond shrieked. Hinata happily nodded, laughing at the prince's shocked expression. Kiba had walked back into the room and pressed his hand up against Hinata's stomach. 

Naruto turned to the man. "Thank you Kiba and I'm so grateful to you for making her so happy and congratulations," he said graciously. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. I promise that your family will be compensated for my antics." 

"No need, just don't be naked around my house anymore and we're even." Kiba replied. Naruto smiled. 

The two had seemed so, so happy. This was the happiness that people dreamt of and sought out. The prince's smile fell as his mind absently wandered to the thief. Then the prince awaiting him in the Sand Kingdom. His knight. Or if his happiness would even be found by seeking it out in someone else. 

Hinata had sensed the blond was lost in thought and spoke up, "You've come a long way even if you don't know it Naruto. I mean, you're here with a thief who kidnapped you, you turned into a fox, he turned you back into a human and you've found me." she chuckled. 

"I turned into a fox?" the prince asked in disbelief. The couple nodded at the blond.

"You're on an adventure, Naruto." Hinata said. "Happy endings don't always happen inside palaces, you know." the woman smiled. 

Naruto nodded. He supposed it was true. 

"I know I have to leave soon," the blond trailed off. "But could I ask you something?" 

"Anything." Hinata replied, quirking a curious brow upwards. Naruto coughed before responding, his face turning an unnatural red color. 

"How did you know that Kiba was the person you wanted to marry?" the blond asked, his voice unusually timid. 

Unbeknownst to the prince, a thief had been leaning in the doorway listening in. Kiba humorously leaned in to his wife, cupping his ear. She merely rolled her eyes at her husband's antics and spoke up again.  

Hinata glanced upwards at Sasuke before her eyes landed on Naruto's. "I left when you were still young, but I'll tell you however you feel about Neji, that's because you think he's pretty. And with Gaara, he's your best friend. You could tell him anything and you would never be afraid of him thinking any less of you. Not to mention, he adores you. But that's not it either. It's not love. Maybe it could be, but it's not." 

"W-What does that have to do with anything?" Naruto asked. 

"Maybe whoever you marry is kind of like a combination of those two things. Even when they might not be conventionally attractive or they like to tell you the truth a little too often, you know your life is better with them in it. But I think it goes beyond that." Hinata said. 

"When I first met Kiba, I thought he was unruly but I knew he was sweet. He made me laugh until it hurt and he bought me ice cream even when he couldn't afford it. He even asked Akamaru for dating advice." she continued. 

"I knew I wanted to marry Kiba when I realized that he cared about me, he inspired me to be a better person, he's the person that I want to wake up to and laugh with. He became my family just as much as he had become my friend. I would do anything to protect him just as he would for me." 

When Sasuke's face popped up in his head, the prince froze in his tracks. 

"Wait, does that mean I'm not conventionally attractive?" Kiba suddenly asked. Naruto snapped out of his reverie and glanced at the couple in front of him who were joking and laughing with one another wholeheartedly. 

It seemed like he was watching the two in slow motion. Their eyes were lit up by bright smiles, their love evident in the way they looked at one another. And although Naruto had never really let himself want that for himself because he always knew it was his duty to his kingdom to end up in an arranged marriage, he was starting to think that everyone ought to have a chance at this. 

Yet, a part of him felt like his throne was always going to be the most important thing in his heart. 

A knock on the door surprised the four of them and Kiba moved to answer it, most likely expecting someone at the door. He promptly grabbed a paper bag and walked over to the door. Hinata waved her hand and the door flew open, startling the person at the entrance. 

Everyone peered up at the woman, her short black cropped hair and innocent features looked familiar to Naruto but he couldn't place her. Sasuke resigned to just ducking behind the doorway and into the hallway. 

"Shizune, what a pleasant surprise. Here's the food that you asked for. Ton Ton would really love it, I'm sure." Kiba replied. The woman smiled up at the breeder. 

"Thank you so much, Kiba. Here, take this." Shizune urged the brunette, holding out a satchel full of copper coins. 

Kiba merely waved. "That's quite alright. You made the effort of coming all the way over here. You can just take it, if it makes your familiar happy, that's fine with me." the brunette spoke as he turned back towards his wife. "You remember Ton Ton, right? Wasn't he just the sweetest little pig in the world?" he murmured. Hinata nodded happily and faced Naruto who had his brows furrowed quite intensely. 

Shizune's eyes briefly scanned the room and upon seeing the blonde, her eyes widened slightly. Nobody had seemed to catch it before she bowed her head and bid them farewell. 

Afer Kiba shut the door, Sasuke had re-entered the room, his bag and other belongings in tow. "Leaving already?" the familiar breeder asked. Akamaru who had been hovering over Kiba barked in affirmation. 

Naruto peered up at the Uchiha. 

"Come on, dobe. You want to break your curse or not?" Sasuke smirked.

The prince nodded and took the thief's hand as he hauled him upwards from his seated position. Hinata glanced at her husband observantly and then back at the two in front of them. 

When the thief and the prince waved and thanked the two, the door closed behind them with a resounding slam. Hinata fought off the sadness at having just reunited with her childhood friend and them having to leave her. But smiled when she saw the familiar gleam in his eye that she had when she knew she had to leave. And while Sasuke had been cold to her, she wanted what was best for him as well. 

Sasuke denied it to the ends of the earth, but she remembered how happy Sasuke was when he was at the palace. And the familiar gleam in his eye that he had as a child was the one he wore on his face as he stared upon the blond. 

* * *

"You really don't remember anything, huh dobe?" Sasuke sneered, recounting all of the trouble that the blond had put him through. 

The two had been traveling towards Suna for the past couple hours and they had made it a fair distance. At the rate they were going, they could reach Suna in an hour. 

Naruto shook his head, his forehead resting against the raven-haired thief's back as they trotted off on the back of Sasuke's horse. "Nope, I didn't even know that I could do that. You're sure you're not just kidding around with me? That stuff really all happened?" the blond raised his head and spoke over Sasuke's shoulder. 

"Could you just ask me after 40 hours instead?" the thief begged the blond.

"What if I forget in 40 hours?" the prince asked curiously. 

"I'm praying that 1 hour is all it'll take," Sasuke resigned. 

"Then I'll make sure the next hour is as memorable as possible then." 

He snapped his head around to yell at the blond, not expecting Naruto to be hovering just over his shoulder. 

The closeness was surprising and Naruto hated how welcome the thief's warm breath felt ghosting his lips. The two sat there facing one another, willing the other to move. Their lips were millimeters from touching one another, their shallow breaths mingling with one another. 

Naruto gulped nervously as the frustratedly attractive thief moved forward. His hands started to shake and he suddenly became aware of the distance between their lips. If you could consider that any distance at all! 

_He hadn't kissed anyone before!_

_What if he slobbered all over Sasuke? Were his lips chapped? Did he want to kiss Sasuke?_

_Wasn't he engaged?_

Naruto didn't have any time to think before Sasuke's lips pressed against his own. Their lips moves moved against one another, shyly at first but got more heated as Sasuke moved one of his arms to rest against the small of Naruto's back and tug him closer to his own body.

The blond immediately flinched, grabbing onto Sasuke's arm. The thief winced in pain when the prince made contact with the wound on his arm and pulled back from the kiss. 

"I-I-I've never kissed anyone." Naruto quickly admitted. "I'm sorry!" he yelled. 

The thief lifted one of his brows confusedly. "That's not why I pulled away, you just grabbed my arm at a bad spot." Sasuke grinned. 

Naruto nodded. 

"Would you have wanted to keep on going, dobe?" the thief chuckled. 

Before the blond could even sputter out a response, the two were halted by a large and looming wall of sand. The two turned towards the wall, their eyes traveling upwards in surprise.

At first, it appeared as if the sky were going dark as the massive wall towered over the two. While the magic was familiar to Naruto, it was not familiar to the thief. Sasuke's horse stomped and trotted around in distress, signaling to the two to get off as chunks of sand fell to the ground around the three of them. 

Flecks of golden dust started to fall upon them and Naruto moved a hand to shield his eyes. Sasuke merely drew his cloak over his shoulder and clenched his fists at his sides, willing his horse to calm down. 

When the sand wall parted, a man with tousled dark red hair, intense teal eyes and handsome features walked through the cascading particles. The Prince of Suna was dressed in a tan, collared shirt with a deep red cloak draped over his shoulders that fell past his knees and dark black pants and shoes. Gold flecks of sand embroidered his cloak in unique patterns and designs. In the corner of his forehead, was a unique tattoo that he had ever since he was a child. While others found the man intimidating, Naruto simply knew him as his best friend. 

Naruto smiled at his friend and approached him eagerly. While the Prince of Suna usually wore a blank expression on his face, when he saw Naruto, he offered him a small smile. The blond prince wrapped his arms around Gaara and pulled him close. Gaara peered at the Uchiha from over the blond's shoulders. 

Sasuke hung his head down in the background awkwardly, not wanting to watch the blond reunite with his betrothed. The horse next to him finally calmed down as Naruto turned around and ushered the two over. 

Gaara's eyes widened slightly as Sasuke approached the two. The Uchiha nodded up at Gaara acknowledging his presence. 

"Good think you came alone. I promise I have a good explanation for this." Naruto explained to the redhead, pulling away from his embrace. 

Gaara simply glanced at Naruto. "Your grandmother sent word that you were kidnapped. Then, I heard that it looked like you two were headed towards Suna. So, I came to meet you halfway. The tracking spell didn't work on you so I figured that something must have been really wrong. I didn't want to endanger anyone else so I went alone. Now, I see that you're fine. Well as fine as you can be having been held captive by an Uchiha." The Prince of Suna looked up at Sasuke angrily. "You're going to have to give me a real good reason for not obliterating this lowlife for even laying a finger on you." 

Sasuke bit out, "I may be an Uchiha but at least I'm no prissy noble who grew up with his lazy ass in a pedestal and a silver spoon stuffed down your goddamn throat. And I've laid more than a finger on him for your information."

"They should have gotten rid of every single one of you when they got the chance. The things you're willing to do for money, the people you endanger. It's despicable." Gaara snapped back. 

"Don't talk about my family or my life as if you've known what it's been like!" the thief cried out.  

"I know who you are Uchiha. You're not kidding anyone. Not Naruto, not me, and most certainly not yourself. You were born without a happy ending and you'll never get one." the other man retorted. 

Sasuke lunged towards Gaara but Naruto hurriedly stepped in between them in an attempt to diffuse the situation. The two men were breathing heavily, their expressions full of fury and humiliation as they had continually bickered at one another. Naruto felt exhausted not from the journey but from seeing the two fight in such a pointless manner. 

"Listen, Gaara. I can't break the curse without Sasuke's help. So, you can't kill him. Sasuke, we need Gaara to get us through Suna and out of Suna." the blond huffed exasperatedly. "So, can everyone just get along? Or at least not kill each other?" the blond finished. 

Gaara was the first one to relent and pull back from the other, followed by Sasuke. 

"I can remain civil as long as Sasuke continues to acknowledge one thing." Gaara mentioned. Naruto and Sasuke turned their attention to the redhead. 

"And what would that be, asshole?" Sasuke spat in a hateful tone. 

"Not only is Naruto my best friend, but we're engaged." the redhead replied. 

"That's completely fine by me." the Uchiha scoffed, moving past the two. 

While Sasuke had missed the hurt expression flicker on Naruto's face, it hadn't escaped Gaara's view. The redhead, upset by seeing his friend in distress, placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. Gaara tried not to let that the fact that there had been something going on between the two get in the way of him seeing his betrothed again. 

Although Naruto hadn't fallen in love with him yet, he knew that given time, he had a legitimate chance. And after Naruto ascended the throne, they could certainly spend more time with one another in each other's kingdoms. 

"Naruto." the blond looked up at his friend with a grateful smile, snapping him out of his dazed expression. "There's a ball happening tonight. You're more than welcome to attend. I'm sure my people would love to see you there. And I would make sure word doesn't get back to Tsunade about your arrival here." Naruto rested his head on Gaara's shoulder. 

"I would really love that." the blond whispered in a low and tired tone. 

"I'll even let your Uchiha join us." Gaara mentioned reluctantly. The blond raised his head to meet the redhead's gaze. 

"Really now?" Naruto questioned curiously. 

"I'm sure it will make for an interesting night." Gaara replied, raising a hand up to meet Naruto's cheek. 

Even though the Uchiha pretended that he hadn't heard anything or didn't care, he was obviously flustered at having come face-to-face with Naruto's supposed fiancé. It was foolish to think he had even a slim chance of finding a happy ending with the blond. How could he want that with the Uchiha when he had not only kidnapped him but his ancestors had cast a curse upon his? 

The Uchiha shook his head. 

He thought back to Naruto's cheery smile when they were younger and at the palace. How Naruto spoke to anyone and everyone about anything and everything because he loved the world and it had loved him back. 

Naruto deserved to be king and there was no place for the Uchiha in that world. He pulled the map out of his pocket, the ink starting to fade fast on the map. The thief bit his lip and focused his attention on trying to find Itachi again. After all, he couldn't afford any more distractions. 

After he got out of Suna, he was heading straight towards Oto. With or without the dobe and with or without telling him how he felt. 

* * *

"Lady Tsunade! Lady Tsunade!" a woman screeched as she stumbled down the halls of the palace. In her arms, she was carrying a distressed pig who appeared just as anxious as she did. 

Others who passed by her were startled by her frantic and rushed movements and papers as well as vials and spells had flown every which way. A stack of papers happened to land in Sakura's hands as she looked around, angered at the commotion.  

"Shizune? What's happened, are you okay?" Sakura asked. The woman had studied with Tsunade years before she took Sakura on an apprentice so the two had grown familiar with one another. However, after the death of Shizune's uncle, Dan and Tsunade's most precious person, the queen couldn't stand facing Shizune so she often went on long trips away from the palace. 

"Where is Lady Tsunade?" Shizune cried. 

"Why? What's the matter? I'll take you to her right now. Follow me." Sakura dropped the papers and grabbed Shizune's arm. 

The duo marched down the hall and made their way up the stairs to Tsunade's private study where she had been distressing over Naruto's return for the past couple days. Along the way, Shizune had briefed Sakura about the situation to which Sakura immediately quickened her pace.

Meanwhile, the queen paced about the room. Books, spells, and even empty bottles of sake had been strewn in various places and she refused to let anyone in the castle clean up her own messes. Lately, she hadn't been able to sleep at all which had caused her family and friends to worry about her. She moved to settle down in her chair and hung her head down on the table. 

She hadn't had any water or food for ages as she had solely been focused on getting her grandson back from the thief. 

As long as her condition didn't reach her people or Oto, she felt that she would be okay. 

"Lady Tsunade." the blonde woman quickly swiveled around and saw her past apprentice in the doorway. She had looked distressed so Tsunade was automatically concerned. 

"Sakura. Shizune. What's happened?" Tsunade asked, trying to compose herself. 

The two women looked at one another, silently arguing with one another about who was going to break the news to Tsunade. "Oh! Will someone just spit it out? Good or bad, I don't care! Just stop staring at me like that! I'll turn you both into birds!" Tsunade yelled. Both women could have sworn they saw each other's souls exit their bodies despite knowing Tsunade's threats were certainly empty. 

"Naruto and Sasuke were seen at the Inuzuka's residence!" Shizune and Sakura yelled at the same time. 

Tsunade's eyes immediately widened and the two held onto each other for dear life. 

"Was he scared? Was he okay? Sakura, deploy units to scour the residence at once." Sakura nodded and she hurried out of the room. 

"He appeared to be fine, Lady Tsunade. He was free to roam about the house, he wasn't restrained in any way. I don't believe he recognized me." Shizune responded easily. 

"Thank you for immediately reporting over to me. I appreciate it." the queen smiled softly. 

Shizune noticed the dark circles under her eyes and she dropped Ton Ton on the ground to approach Tsunade and wrap her arms around her. "It's no problem." Tsunade leaned into her apprentice's embrace. Shizune backed away and attempted to rush out the door after seeing the sad look in Tsunade's eyes. 

"Thank you." the blonde woman said slowly. Her apprentice stopped in her tracks. Tsunade's kindness felt foreign to her after all this time. And she tried to forget how it felt because it would be easier for them both to move on from the tragedy that held befallen them before. 

"And I'm sorry. I am. For everything, Shizune. It's good to have you back at the palace." Tsunade added before Shizune left the room.  

After Tsunade heard the door close, she settled back onto the desk.

She was glad that Naruto had appeared to be okay. Her mind flashed back to Dan and then she willed herself to push down thoughts of Jiraiya. 

For her family's sake, she hoped she would be okay too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i only listened to baby shark while writing this does it show)
> 
> anyways, can u believe!!! they kissed i can't


End file.
